presence

presence

1. an invisible spirit felt to be nearby

2. Electronics a recording control that boosts mid-range frequencies

3. (of a recording) a quality that gives the impression that the listener is in the presence of the original source of the sound

presence (and absence)

1. the immediate social relations of copresence, compared with other actual or potential relations at a distance (absence) - see SOCIAL AND SYSTEM INTEGRATION.
2. (PHILOSOPHY, LINGUISTICS) the ‘here and now’, location of a ‘knowing subject’ assumed in traditional philosophy.

The method of DECONSTRUCTION employed by DERRIDA is an attack on what he terms the ‘metaphysics of presence’ in traditional philosophy (e.g. in HUSSERL) -the assumption that there is somewhere (e.g. a transcendental knowing subject) a site of immediate certainty. In Derrida's radicalized version of SAUSSURE's linguistics, signification and meaning, including the IDENTITY of the SELF, are always dependent on absence (see DIFFERENCE) and never complete.

presence

[′prez·əns]

(acoustics)

The impression, as created by a recording or radio receiver, that the original program source is in the room.

presence

In an instant messaging (IM) system, it is the status of a person's current availability (online, idle, offline, etc.). The status can be changed by the user or set automatically by the IM client after a certain amount of time without keyboard or mouse activity. "Unified communications" requires presence across all the applications and devices the user might communicate with, including email, instant messaging, office phone, smartphone and tablet. "Rich presence" implies conveying more information about the user's current status, including type of device being used and its operating environment, location and local time and any other messages the user might wish to announce. See unified communications, IMPP, XMPP and buddy list.